London. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, is expected to add India to its growing list of members, two years after China joined, sources at the development bank said.

A formal application from India is expected within "days, weeks maximum," one source told Reuters. A second source confirmed this.

If admitted, India would become the 69th shareholder of the EBRD which has expanded its reach considerably in recent years.

A spokesman for the bank said directors at the London-based EBRD had been formally told of India's plans at a board meeting this week.

"The next step would be to wait for a formal request from the Indian authorities ... and the final decision will be taken by our board of governors," the spokesman said.

India - like China - will only be providing rather than receiving money with its new membership. It may, however, benefit indirectly through EBRD projects or if Indian companies invest alongside the bank.

The bank was set up in 1991 to help former Communist states build their economies after the Cold War.

As well as its eastern European heartland, the bank now invests in Mongolia, Turkey, economies affected directly or indirectly by the Arab Spring such as Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan, as well as euro zone crisis countries Greece and Cyprus.